


Never Be The Same

by Papillionth



Series: Not Always a Happy Ending [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, F/M, Heartbreak, Identity Reveal, idk i was emotional, it's my first time posting anything i've written, like this isn't prize winning writing folks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-06
Updated: 2016-03-06
Packaged: 2018-05-24 23:53:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6171751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Papillionth/pseuds/Papillionth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If she couldn't see herself as Ladybug, then how could anyone else?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Never Be The Same

**Author's Note:**

> i was feeling very emotional when i wrote this i'm sorry

Marinette had always known. Deep down, it was obvious, wasn’t it? Adrien was Chat Noir. Those piercing green eyes, that soft smile, looking back she’d wonder how she never saw it before. She’d never meant to find out. They were never supposed to share their identities. But he slipped up, he made a mistake and she saw what she never should have seen. 

Chat Noir. Flirty. Playful. Boisterous Chat Noir. The one who so many times had risked his own life just for protect her, her partner, her best friend. 

Adrien. Quiet. Lonely. Distant Adrien. The one who had shown her nothing but kindness, her heart, her everything, but ultimately someone she could never match up to.

Of course, she’d been smitten with Adrien from day one. Initially because he was handsome, he was a model, but she began to learn about him, his life, who he was, their friendship developed, her love only grew each day. It took her longer to fall for Chat Noir, his advances always seeming to her to be a joke, he was too dangerous for her to love, but just the same she did. 

Marinette tried. She tried every day to speak to him, to show him herself. Tikki always told her that Marinette and Ladybug were the same, but if that was the case, why couldn’t Marinette have Ladybug’s confidence? She wanted to believe it was true, but how could Marinette be Ladybug? 

Yet still she knew. She had to reveal herself to Adrien. Because she loved both halves of him, so surely, he could love both halves of her? 

She made him wait after patrol one evening. He’d known something was on her mind, he’d seen the way she’d avoid his gaze, the way she’d run from him the first chance she got, but that night was different. She stood tall, her eyes were locked on his, they were determined. No words were exchanged, nothing needed to be said. Her transformation faded and she kept her eyes trained on him. There was no backing out. She’d taken the leap. She’d shown him her other half, the half of her she wanted to keep hidden from him forever, the half of her she didn’t want.

And he’d rejected her. 

Why? She didn’t know. 

It hurt her. It broke her. She’d cried more tears than she thought were possible, Tikki couldn’t calm her, and she told no one. She feigned sickness the next day, staying in bed and skipping patrol. He never came. He never asked why she wasn’t at patrol. His green eyes were no longer hers. His kindness was no longer hers. At school she no longer ate lunch with him, she no longer spent her lessons watching him. He changed his seat. Alya could see something was hurting her, but she never spoke of Adrien’s rejection.  
Marinette felt like the light in her world had been shut off. She’d lost them both.

Her best friend.

The love of her life.

It was funny, when she thought about it, she’d always known she’d never be enough for Adrien, but she still hoped, she hoped every day that he would speak to her, he would turn around and say he loved her too. That he would stop running. That he would stay after an akuma attack. 

About a week after she revealed herself he asked for separate patrols. 

Because Adrien didn’t want Marinette. Adrien had never wanted Marinette. Adrien wanted Ladybug, and only Ladybug. 

Marinette would never be Ladybug.

No matter what anyone said.

**Author's Note:**

> this work has an adrien-centric counterpart!


End file.
